Touro (Harlem) vs NYITCOM vs PCOM

[opos23]

Please help me decide Touro (Harlem) vs NYITCOM vs PCOM (Philly). I'd really appreciate any current student perspectives as I don't know much about PCOM and Touro. I am looking for a school that is supportive, academically strong, with good match outcomes

PCOM: Pros: This is my first choice - nice campus, overall good rotation sites, good residency match outcome.
Cons: away from family, don't have friends, don't know much about the school and place

NYITCOM: Pros: close to home, have few friends who are current students
Cons: Its an online school with asynchronous recorded lectures, assessments are all take home exams. Few current students that I spoke to are not happy with management, too much focus on osteopathic class, low quality rotations

Touro (Harlem): Pros: close to home, have few friends who'll be starting this year, good research opportunities
Cons: don't know much about the school, not sure where students rotate, administration

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[MCAT-boy]

What about the COA?

 

[BobbyKoch]

PCOM Philly.

Touro Harlem is the worst of both worlds in terms of didactic structure--asynchronous/pre-recorded lectures and required classes (clicker sessions).

 

[Schwifty]

PCOM. You don't want a school that really pushes OMM more than they have to (NYIT), and others have said Touro has mandatory attendance which is 100% a deal breaker in my book. Also, Philadelphia is awesome

 

[DrStephenStrange]

If it's PCOM in Philly, then definitely PCOM. If not, then whichever you prefer between NYIT and Touro it doesn't not matter, but I'd go to NYIT or Touro before the PCOMs in Georgia.

Edit: Also assuming it's not NYIT in Arkansas.

 

[danielblank313]

Just wanted to chime in that the mandatory attendance at Touro is likely to change this next academic year. For the past year, M1s did NOT have mandatory attendance for anything except OMM labs and to take exams in person. According to our professors, we coincidentally also had the highest exam averages compared to previous years of mandatory attendance (I wonder why...)

For OP:

The COA for Touro is quite high, significantly higher than PCOM, and it is a well regarded school. I'd go PCOM if its in Philly.

 

[deleted1066189]

PCOM and it's not even close. I will say it's not actually in Philly, but in Manayunk (very suburbian, and the school has enough property for an actual campus. A lot of students also commute though the school does have some basic housing now). Of course, most of the rotations are in Philly.
NYITCOM has gone seriously downhill. It sounds like Touro Harlem is on the upswing, but it would still be much cheaper to go to PCOM (and better opportunities)

 

[armaragon]

There is no question, go PCOM.

 

[The kitchen sink]

PCOM and it's not even close. I will say it's not actually in Philly, but in Manayunk (very suburbian, and the school has enough property for an actual campus. A lot of students also commute though the school does have some basic housing now). Of course, most of the rotations are in Philly.
NYITCOM has gone seriously downhill. It sounds like Touro Harlem is on the upswing, but it would still be much cheaper to go to PCOM (and better opportunities)

Why has NYITCOM gone downhill? Have been off the forums for a few years

 

[deleted1066189]

Why has NYITCOM gone downhill? Have been off the forums for a few years

i know someone who goes there and apparently the administration is LECOM levels of toxic
the attrition rate still isn't good and the rotation quality has supposedly gone into the deep end (especially as lectures are shared between the old campus and new Arkansas campus)

might be a grain of salt. it's unfortunate as I have a family friend who graduated from NYITCOM years ago and was quite happy there

 

[BobbyKoch]

Just wanted to chime in that the mandatory attendance at Touro is likely to change this next academic year. For the past year, M1s did NOT have mandatory attendance for anything except OMM labs and to take exams in person. According to our professors, we coincidentally also had the highest exam averages compared to previous years of mandatory attendance (I wonder why...)

For OP:

The COA for Touro is quite high, significantly higher than PCOM, and it is a well regarded school. I'd go PCOM if its in Philly.

That’s good to hear. Dr. Jones must be fuming. He said in the past that without clickers there is no difference from a correspondence course. He seems like a good guy who genuinely loves teaching so I hope his views can evolve.

Agreed regarding COA. Unless you have family that are willing to house you in NYC...

 

[danielblank313]

That’s good to hear. Dr. Jones must be fuming. He said in the past that without clickers there is no difference from a correspondence course. He seems like a good guy who genuinely loves teaching so I hope his views can evolve.

Agreed regarding COA. Unless you have family that are willing to house you in NYC...

There are clickers! So for those who actually get value out of them they can attend them but any questions as part of the clickers are not due at that moment in class, more of an at the end of the week kind of business. I personally didn't attend clickers, so I too hope he's ok with the changes!

 

[hallowmann]

PCOM by far. It has one of the biggest OPTIs, meaning it'll have a ton of affiliates for electives and just for applying to residencies that trust the graduates.

 

[opos23]

Yes, it is PCOM - Philly. Thanks everyone for confirming that I have picked the right one. I am excited and looking forward to go to PCOM.

Parents have been forcing, not really forcing, but gently nudging me to pick NYITCOM so I can stay close to home. I spoke to three current students of NYIT, all of them said more or less similar things and advised me to come to NYITCOM only if I have no other options left.

 

[opos23]

Listing them down for anyone who might be looking for inside perspective about NYIT.

• Rotation quality is poor, this has been the case for quite some time now
• Since Covid the lectures are asynchronous pre-recorded. The school has decided to continue this moving forward indefinitely. It is all about money and what works best for faculty, as much less work as possible for staff. Previously they used to have non-mandatory synchronous sessions, students had three options - they can attend in-person lectures or attend live sessions online or watch recorded sessions. But the tuition fee has not come down, it is still 60K+
• Basic science block exams are take home tests, the school started doing this because of covid. With mostly everyone vaccinated now, it is still take home exams. The school is not strictly pass fail, they do have internal ranking that will be on the transcript. With no proctored tests and poor lecture quality, basic science education is going downhill, on top of their poor clinical rotations
• Administration is toxic, they influence the student ambassadors and SGA, use them as messengers to push their money saving, cost cutting decisions. Whenever student groups complain about something like osteopathic lab, clinical skills test, the academic affairs is highly punitive and will make sure to make it even worse by scheduling tests with few hours of break in between on the same day
• Residency match rate has been going downhill too

 

[kirklandstretchtite]

Congratulations on making the right decision!
I know several friends who recently attended Touro-Harlem or NYITCOM. They mentioned similar complaints about their administration and the lack of quality of their rotation sites.

Four years will pass by soon and Philadelphia is still close to NY so you can still see family and friends during the weekends.

Good luck!

 

[deleted1066189]

it is still take home exams. The school is not strictly pass fail, they do have internal ranking that will be on the transcript. With no proctored tests and poor lecture quality

yikes. they are basically encouraging people to cheat

 

[sandel2214]

Just wanted to chime in that the mandatory attendance at Touro is likely to change this next academic year. For the past year, M1s did NOT have mandatory attendance for anything except OMM labs and to take exams in person. According to our professors, we coincidentally also had the highest exam averages compared to previous years of mandatory attendance (I wonder why...)

For OP:

The COA for Touro is quite high, significantly higher than PCOM, and it is a well regarded school. I'd go PCOM if its in Philly.

They’re not changing it and are set on staying mandatory. Don’t recommend it. Truly takes a toll on mental health

 

[sandel2214]

They’re not changing it and are set on staying mandatory. Don’t recommend it. Truly takes a toll on mental health

 

[JudgeIsInTheHouse]

Hmm I don’t think we really had to name- drop Dr. Jones on this forum…

 

[MateoGM416]

They’re not changing it and are set on staying mandatory. Don’t recommend it. Truly takes a toll on mental health

What makes mandatory attendance so bad?

 

[Dr Meow]

What makes mandatory attendance so bad?

It's a waste of time. Some classes are BS and you can learn faster on your own or you can watch at 2X speed

 

[Neopolymath]

What makes mandatory attendance so bad?

Complete antithesis to the average med student's best way to learn and also have a life. Avoid at all costs.

 

[MCAT-boy]

Complete antithesis to the average med student's best way to learn and also have a life. Avoid at all costs.

Can’t agree more. I go to a mandatory attendance school, and I am going crazy.

 

[MateoGM416]

Complete antithesis to the average med student's best way to learn and also have a life. Avoid at all costs.

What is the average med student's best way to learn?

Can’t agree more. I go to a mandatory attendance school, and I am going crazy.

What do you dislike most about it?

 

[MateoGM416]

bumping in case anyone could answer those questions, sorry for being obnoxious

 

[BobbyKoch]

What is the average med student's best way to learn?

Different for everyone. Which is precisely why mandatory attendance sucks. If that is not your best way to learn you're at a disadvantage.

What do you dislike most about it?

I had a short time (1 semester) at a school with mandatory attendance. If I have a 3-4 hour block of lectures and/or question sessions, I've usually dissociated by hour 2. For me, it's the drudgery of sitting through concepts that are familiar, easily grasped and the speeding through of things I don't understand. This is why independent study works best for me. I can breeze through whatever I already know and privilege my time with what I find difficult.

 

[DrWBD]

NYIT’s biggest strength used to be the number of really good hospitals their students could do their core rotations in. Now that Northwell and Winthrop (now NYU-Long Island) have their own medical schools and a lot of the NYC hospitals are being paid by Caribbean schools to take their students exclusively, the quality of the core rotations at NYIT has taken a huge nosedive.